Molding member and method of producing same

ABSTRACT

An elongate molding member for automobile body components and the like, as well as a method of producing such molding members are disclosed. The molding member (11) includes a core element (12), and a cover element (13) made of synthetic resin material co-extruded about the core element (11). The core element (11) has a strip-like ornamental portion (15) which is different in color from the synthetic resin material of the cover element (13) and is to be disclosed outside by removing a separable portion (18) defined by at least one longitudinal slit (17) in the cover element (13). The ornamental portion (15) of the core element (12) has a longitudinally variable width (W 1 , W 2 ) to provide an aesthetically refined appearance and to thus satisfy various ornamental design requirements.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an elongate molding member to be usedas a body component for an automobile and the like, as well as a methodof producing such a molding member.

2. Description of the Related Art

Typically, various automobile body components include elongate moldingmembers often formed of suitable synthetic resin material, such aswindshield moldings, back window moldings, front and/or rear bumpermoldings, drip moldings, body side moldings, pillar moldings, beltmoldings, etc. For refining the ornamental appearance of the automobile,there have been various proposals and, among others, Japanese UtilityModel Application Laid-open Publication No. 53-111,928 discloses amolding member with its exterior including at least one strip-likeornamental portion having a metallic luster and made different in colorfrom the remaining portions.

More particularly, the above-mentioned proposal provides a method ofproducing elongate molding members wherein an elongate core element withat least one outer surface portion of a metallic luster is applied witha protective cover film along that region which corresponds to thestrip-like ornamental portion of the product to be disclosed. Soprepared core element is subsequently fed to an extrusion die by whichsynthetic resin material is co-extruded around the core element to forman elongate composite body At least one slit is then formed in thecomposite body at a predetermined location which corresponds to thelongitudinal edge of the cover film, so as to facilitate separation ofthe cover film and to disclose the strip-like ornamental portion of thecore element with the metallic luster.

The molding member produced as above has a uniform cross-sectional shapethroughout the entire length thereof, with a constant width of thedifferently colored ornamental portion of the core element which isexposed outside. This means that it is not possible, by theabove-mentioned known method, to produce molding members with theexposed portion of the core element having a width which varieslongitudinally of the molding member to satisfy various ornamentaldesign requirements.

In order to produce the co-extruded molding members having a differentlycolored ornamental portion with a longitudinally variable width, thesynthetic resin material extruded around the core element may beseparated and removed from the composite body with a longitudinallyvariable width corresponding to the ornamental portion of the coreelement. However, in order to facilitate the separation and removal ofthe synthetic resin material from the composite body to disclose thestrip-like ornamental portion of the core element, the synthetic resinmaterial would tend to be subjected to unintentional separation from theremaining portions of the core elements whereby a stable product cannotbe obtained.

As an alternative approach, the molding member may be formed of aplurality of separate elements including one for the ornamental portion,which may be connected into an integral body with a so-calledinsertinjection process. With such a process, however, undesirable burrsmay be formed along the interface of the neighbouring elementssubstantially deteriorating the appearance of the product.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Consequently, it is an object of the present invention to provide amolding member having a differently colored strip-like ornamentalportion with its width varying longitudinally of the molding member,which satisfies various ornamental design requirements and which canmanufactured in a facilitated manner without deteriorating theappearance.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provideda molding member to be used as a body component for an automobile andthe like, which comprises an elongate cover element made of an extrusionmolded synthetic resin, a core element enclosed at least partly in saidcover element, with a strip-like ornamental portion which is differentin color from the cover element, an adhesive layer arranged between theextruded synthetic resin of said cover element and portion of said coreelement on at least one side of said strip-like ornamental portionthereof, and at least one longitudinal slit formed in said cover elementto define a separable portion of the cover element, said separableportion having a predetermined width which is variable longitudinally ofsaid molding member.

With the above-mentioned arrangement of the molding member in accordancewith the present invention, the adhesive layer is present only betweenthe synthetic resin of the cover element and portion of the core elementon at least one side of the strip-like ornamental portion. In theabsence of adhesive layer between the synthetic resin of the separableportion of the cover element and the strip-like ornamental portion ofthe core element, and since the cover element is formed with at leastone longitudinal slit, the separable portion of the cover element whichcorresponds to the strip-like ornamental portion of the core element canbe readily separated and removed to disclose the ornamental portionwhich is different in color from the synthetic resin of the coverelement.

Because the slit defines the separable portion with a predeterminedwidth which is variable longitudinally of the molding member, the widthof the ornamental portion of the core element, which is disclosed byremoving the separable portion of the cover, is also variable inaccordance with a predetermined ornamental design requirement. Hence, itbecomes possible to readily provide a molding member with longitudinallyvariable width of the differently colored ornamental portion, having anaesthetically refined appearance.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method ofproducing molding members each having a differently colored strip-likeornamental portion with its width varying longitudinally of the moldingmember, which can be carried out in a facilitated manner withoutdeteriorating the appearance of the product.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method of manufacturing molding members to be used as body componentsfor an automobile and the like, which comprises the steps of preparingan elongate core element with a strip-like ornamental portion, applyingadhesive material onto said core element to form an adhesive layer onportion of said core elements on at least side of said strip-likeornamental portion, successively supplying to an extrusion die said coreelement with said strip-like ornamental portion and said adhesive layer,extrusion molding a synthetic resin material about said core element toform a continuous composite body with a cover element which encloses thecore element at least partly, and forming at least one longitudinal slitin said cover element to define a separable portion of the coverelement, said separable portion having a predetermined width which isvariable longitudinally of said molding member, and cutting thecontinuous composite body into a predetermined length.

With the above-mentioned steps of the method in accordance with thepresent invention, it becomes possible to manufacture molding memberswith a unique arrangement referred to hereinbefore, in a simple butreliable manner, and without deteriorating the appearance of theproduct.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 and 2 are perspective views of an automobile with moldingmembers to which the present invention can be applied;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a portion of the windshield moldingmember according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a partial plan view of the molding member shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the molding member of FIG. 3 in use;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a portion of FIG. 5 in an enlargedscale;

FIG. 7 is a partial plan view, similar to FIG. 4, of the molding memberaccording to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a portion of the molding memberaccording to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 9 to 11 are cross-sectional views showing various modifications ofthe molding member according to the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a portion of the molding memberaccording to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a partial plan view, similar to FIG. 4, of the molding memberaccording to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view in an enlarged scale and taken alongthe line A--A in FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view, similar to FIG. 14, of the moldingmember according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a schematic view showing the steps of a preferred method ofproducing the molding member according to the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a sectional view showing one example of the arrangement ofthe adhesive coating station shown in FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a sectional view showing one example of the arrangement ofthe measuring station shown in FIG. 16;

FIG. 19 is a side view showing one example of the slitter device shownin FIG. 16;

FIG. 20 is a sectional view in an enlarged scale and taken along theline B--B in FIG. 19;

FIG. 21 is a partial plan view of the metal strip according to anotherembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 22 is a sectional view in an enlarged scale and taken along theline C--C in FIG. 21;

FIG. 23 is a partial plan view of the core metal plate according toanother embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 24 is a sectional view in an enlarged scale and taken along theline D--D in FIG. 23;

FIG. 25 is a cross-sectional view of the composite member which includesthe core metal plate shown in FIG. 24, but which is not yet formed withthe slits; and

FIG. 26 is a sectional view explaining the manner of forming the slitsin the cover element.

DETAILED EXPLANATION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. 1 and 2 show an automobile denotedas a whole by reference numeral 1, with various body componentscomprising molding members to which the present invention is applicable.More particularly, such components include windshield moldings 2, backwindow moldings 3, front bumper moldings 4, rear bumper moldings 5, bodyside moldings 6, drip or roof moldings 7, pillar moldings 8, beltmoldings 9, etc.

A molding member according to a first embodiment of the presentinvention is shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, as being a windshield molding member11. The molding member 11 includes, as shown in FIG. 3, an elongatemetal plate 12 forming a core element, and a cover element 13 composedof a suitable synthetic resin material extrusion molded about the metalplate 12 to form an elongate composite body 14 in which the metal plate12 is embedded and covered by the cover element 13. The metal plate 12may consist of stainless steel or aluminum plate with a metallic luster,and has a strip-like ornamental portion 15 that is to be exposedoutside, as will be fully described hereinafter.

Furthermore, an adhesive layer 16 is arranged between the inner surfaceof the synthetic resin material of the cover element 13 and thosesurface portions of the metal plate 12 except the strip-like ornamentalportion 15. Corresponding to the strip-like ornamental portion 15 of themetal plate 12, the cover element 13 is formed with a pair oflongitudinal slits 17 which are spaced from each other by apredetermined, longitudinally variable distance. These slits 17 define aseparable portion 18 in the cover element 13 which is directly incontact with the strip-like ornamental portion of the metal plate 12,without the adhesive layer therebetween.

As shown in FIG. 4, the molding member 11 has a total length L, andincludes respective pairs of side portions l₁ : and corner portions l₂,as well as an upper portion l₃. The distance between the slits 17assumes substantially constant values W₁, W₂ at the side and upperportions l₁, l₃, respectively, while gradually changes from W₁ to W₂ atthe corner portions l₂.

The above-mentioned windshield molding member 11 is used in thefollowing manner. Firstly, the separable portion 18 of the cover element13 formed between the pair of slits 17 is separated and removed, so asto disclose the strip-like ornamental portion 15 of the metal plate 12.Subsequently, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the molding member 11 is soarranged on a predetermined location as to cover the gap formed betweena windshield glass 19 and relevant body panel 20, and is fixedly securedin place by means of an adhesive material 21 filled within a closedspace which is formed by the molding member 11, the windshield glass 19,the body panel 20 and a rubber dam member 22.

With the above-mentioned arrangement of the windshield molding member 11according to the present invention, the inner surface of the syntheticresin material of the cover element 13 is firmly adhered to the entiresurface of the metal plate, except the strip-like ornamental portion 15,by the adhesive layer 16. This, on the other hand, means that theadhesive layer 16 is not present between the strip-like ornamentalportion 15 of the metal plate 12 and the separable portion 18 defined bythe pair of slits 17 in the cover element 13. The separable portion 18of the cover element 13 can thus be removed whenever necessary, in avery simple and reliable manner. By separating and removing theseparable portion 18 of the cover element 13 along the slits 17, thestrip-like ornamental portion 15 of the metal plate 12 is disclosed andbecomes visible from the outside of the molding member 11. Thestrip-like ornamental portion 15 of the metal plate 12 so disclosed hasa longitudinally variable width corresponding to the longitudinallyvariable distance between the slits 17, whereby the molding member 11with an aesthetically excellent appearance, capable of satisfyingvarious ornamental design requirements, can be obtained very easilywithout any deterioration in the appearance.

Several modifications of the molding member in accordance with thepresent invention, by way of examples, are explained with reference toFIGS. 7 to 11.

The windshield molding member 11 shown in FIG. 7 has its separableportion of the cover element 13 removed, so as to disclose thestrip-like ornamental portion 15 of the metal plate 12. This moldingmember 11 features an arrangement in which one slit 17a extends as astraight line, while the other slit 17b extends with a desiredconfiguration and defines the strip-like ornamental portion 15 with alongitudinally variable width.

Another windshield molding member 11 is shown in FIG. 8, wherein thepair of slits 17 are formed in the side and corner portions l₁, l₂, withthe upper portion l₃ which is not formed with slits. The molding member11 shown in FIG. 9 is similar to those as explained above and includes,beside the metal plate 12 with the strip-like ornamental portion 15, anadditional core element 23 which is also covered by and enclosed in thecover element 13. On the other hand, FIGS. 10 and 11 show the moldingmembers 11 in the form of a windshield molding with differentcross-sectional shapes, while FIG. 12 shows another type of the moldingmember 11 which may be used as a front or rear bumper molding member, oras a body side molding member.

Another embodiment of the molding member according to the presentinvention is shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, which is for a drip or roofmolding member. The drip molding member 11 has a basic structure whichis essentially the same as that of the above-mentioned embodiment, andin which the distance between portions of the adhesive layer 16 on bothsides of the strip-like ornamental portion 15 of the metal plate 12 issubstantially the same as the distance between the slits 17 in the coverelement 13, i.e. the disclosed width of the ornamental portion 15. Withsuch an arrangement of the adhesive layer 16, the entire inner surfaceof the cover element 13 except for the separable portion 18 is firmlyadhered to the metal plate 12, so as to effectively prevent undesirableseparation of the cover element 13 from the metal plate 12 after theremoval of the separable portion 18, thus maintaining the aestheticallyrefined appearance for a long time.

Shown in FIG. 15 is still another embodiment of the molding memberaccording to the present invention which is also for a drip moldingmember. The drip molding member 11 of this embodiment comprises, besidesthe core metal plate 12, a separate ornamental metal strip 15 integrallysecured to the core metal plate 12 to form the ornamental portion to bedisclosed. The metal strip 15 has a desired color, or consistsessentially of stainless steel or aluminum with a metallic luster.Furthermore, in this embodiment also, the distance between portions ofthe adhesive layer 16 on both sides of the disclosed region of the metalplate 15 is substantially the same as the distance between the slits 17in the cover element 13. In other words, the adhesive layer 16 isapplied to the longitudinal edges of the metal strip 15 as well, toeffectively prevent undesirable separation of the cover element 13 fromthe metal plate 12 and the metal strip 15 after the removal of theseparable portion 18, and to maintain the refined appearance for a longtime.

A preferred method of producing the molding members in accordance withthe present invention will be explained below, with reference to FIGS.16 to 26. By way of example only, the molding member to be produced isillustrated as being the windshield molding member 11 shown in FIGS. 13and 14.

As shown in FIG. 16, a continuous metal strip forming the core metalplate 12 with the ornamental portion 15 is unwound from a strip coil 24by a pair of pinch rollers 25, and is fed to an adhesive coating station26 where the metal strip is coated with adhesive material to form theadhesive layer 16. The adhesive coating station 26 includes, as shown inFIG. 17, a common lower roller 26a for applying the adhesive material tothe lower surface of the metal strip, and a pair of upper rollers 26b,26c for applying the adhesive material to the upper surface of the metalstrip. The upper rollers 26b, 26c are movable toward and away from eachother, and transversely of the metal strip, as shown by arrows a and b,so that the distance between portions of the adhesive layer 16 on bothsides of the ornamental portion 15, or the width of the metal stripportion which is not applied with the adhesive material, is variablelongitudinally of the metal strip.

The adhesive layer 16 is then subjected to a high temperature baking ata heating station 27 which includes an appropriate heater. Thereafter,the metal strip is fed to a roll forming station 28 including aplurality of rollers, and is shaped into a continuous metal body with adesired cross-section which corresponds to that of the core element 12in the product. The metal body is supplied to a measuring station 29including a rotary encoder, for example, for measuring the suppliedlength of the metal body, and then to another heating station 30including an appropriate heater for heating the adhesive layer 16 toactivate the adhesive material.

More particularly, as shown in FIG. 18, the rotary encoder of themeasuring station 29 includes a lower roller 29a whose rotation isconverted into an output signal representing the supplied length of themetal body, which signal is supplied to a controller or a CPU 31. Therotary encoder further includes a pair of upper rollers 29b, 29c which,like the upper rollers 26b, 26c of the adhesive coating station 26, aremovable toward and away from each other and transversely of the metalstrip, as shown by arrows c and d, so as to further apply adhesivematerial to the metal strip thereby to recover possible separation ofthe adhesive layer 16 during the passage of the metal strip through theroll forming station 28. The output signal of the rotary encoder at themeasuring station 29, which is supplied to the controller 31, is used tocontrol the distance between the rollers 26a, 29a and 26b, 29b and toadjust the width of the region on the metal strip and the metal body towhich the adhesive material is not applied, in accordance with thesupplied length of the metal body.

Subsequently, the continuous body with the desired cross-section issupplied to an extrusion die 32 by means of which a suitable syntheticresin material is heated and co-extruded, in its molten state, about thecontinuous body to form the elongate composite body 14 with the coverelement 13 enclosing the core element 12. A slitter device 33, alsocontrolled by the controller 31, is arranged on the exit side of theextrusion die 32 to form a pair of slits 17 in the cover element 13while the slits varies longitudinally of the composite body 14. Thecomposite body 14 is then supplied to and cooled in cooling tanks 34 anddrawn by take-up belt device 35, and is thereafter cut, at a controlledpoint, into a predetermined length by a cutter device 36 which iscontrolled by the controller 31, whereby the desired molding members areformed successively.

FIGS. 19 and 20 show one preferred example of the slitter device 33which includes a supporting roller 37 for the composite body 14, and apair of rotatable cutter blades 38. The cutter blades 38 are supportedby respective carriages 39 so as to be also movable toward and away fromeach other transversely of the composite body 14, as shown by arrows eand f in FIG. 20. The carriages 39 are guided by a guide rod 42 securedto bearing plates 41, and are in mesh with a threaded rod 43 rotatablyjournaled by the bearing plates 41, which threaded rod consistspreferably of a ball bearing screw rod with axially aligned left-handedand right-handed threaded portions. The cutter blades 38 are urged bycompression springs 40 against the surface of the composite body 14, andmay be moved transversely of the composite body 14 by a reversibleservomotor 44 which is connected to one end of the threaded rod 43 andcontrolled by the controller 31.

In operation, the distance between the cutter blades 38 is set to be W₁initially, and is controlled in response to the supplied length of thecore element 12 in the following manner. As mentioned above, themeasuring station 29 includes the rotary encoder which supplies thecontroller 31 with an output signal representing the supplied length ofthe core element 12. As the supplied length of the core element 12reaches a predetermined value, the controller 31 supplies a commandsignal to the servomotor 44 whereby the servomotor 44 is actuated todrive the threaded rod 43 in a normal direction. The carriages 39 arethus moved toward each other, and the distance between the cutter blades38 gradually decreases to W₂. When a further predetermined length of thecore element 12 is detected, the servomotor 44 is stopped whereby thedecreased distance W₂ between the cutter blades 38 is maintained. Upondetection of a next predetermined length of the core element 12, theservomotor 44 is actuated to drive the threaded rod 43 in a reversedirection so that the carriages 39 are moved away from each other, andthe distance between the cutter blades 38 increases to a desired value.In this manner, the distance between the cutter blades 38 and hence, thedistance between the slits 17 is adjusted in response to the suppliedlength of the core element 12, providing a longitudinally variable widthof the disclosed ornamental portion 15 of the metal plate 12.

When the molding member 11 produced as above is used with its separableportion 18 removed, despite an essentially the same cross-sectionalshape of the extrusion molded composite body 14 throughout the entirelength, the molding member 11 is visually characterized by alongitudinally variable width of the ornamental portion 15. Moreparticularly, the molding member 11 appears as a whole, as if it has alongitudinally variable cross-section and has thus been made by aprocess other than the extrusion process. By this, a variety ofornamental design requirements can be satisfied in a very facilitatedmanner. Moreover, the entire inner surface of the synthetic resinmaterial forming the cover element 13, except for the separable portion18, is tightly adhered to the core metal plate 12 by the adhesive layer16 with its portions on both sides of the ornamental portion 15 spacedfrom each other by a longitudinally variable distance. Thus, the coverelement 13 can be retained in adhesion with the metal plate 12 evenafter the removal of the separable portion 18, without being subjectedto undesirable separation, so that an aesthetically refined appearancecan be preserved for a long time.

In the above-mentioned embodiment of the method of producing moldingmembers, in accordance with the present invention, the entire surface ofthe core metal plate 12 except for the ornamental portion 15 is appliedwith the adhesive material to form the adhesive layer 16 with which thesynthetic resin material of the cover element 13 is brought into tightadhesion with the core metal plate 12. Alternatively, the adhesivematerial may be applied only to particular regions of the metal plate 12which are adjacent to the ornamental portion 15, specifically when themetal plate 12 is formed with a number of through-holes 45, as shown inFIGS. 21 and 22, through which the synthetic resin material on bothsurfaces of the metal plate 12 is united with each other to provide animproved retention of the cover element 13 with respect to the coremetal plate 12.

Similarly, in the above-mentioned embodiment of the method of producingmolding members, in accordance with the present invention, all the upperrollers 26b, 26c, 29b and 29c at the adhesive coating station 26 and themeasuring station 29 are arranged so as to be movable in directionsshown by arrows a to d, respectively, in order to obtain thelongitudinally variable distance between the portions of the adhesivelayer 16 on both sides of the ornamental portion 15 of the metal plate12. However, either one pair of the rollers of the adhesive coatingstation 26 or the measuring station 29 may be arranged as being spacedfrom each other with a constant distance or, alternatively, one of therollers of each pair may be arranged as an axially movable rollerrelative to the other roller of the pair which, in turn, is arranged atan axially fixed location.

To produce the molding member 11 shown in FIG. 7, a pair of slits 17 maybe formed with only one of the cutter blades 38 being moved in responseto the supplied length of the core element 12, and relative to the otherof the cutter blades 38 which is arranged at an axially fixed location.However, it is also possible to form one of the slits 17 by theextrusion die 32, with the provision of only one cutter blade 38 to formthe other of the slits 17. On the other hand, the molding member 11shown in FIG. 8 can be produced by moving the cutter blades 38 towardeach other and away from the composite member 14, before the cutterblades 38 reach the upper portion l₃. The molding member 11 shown inFIG. 9 can be produced by simultaneously supplying the extrusion die 32with the metal plate 12 having the ornamental portion 15, as well as theadditional core element 23. The molding member 11 shown in FIGS. 10 to12 can be produced substantially in the same manner. Furthermore, themolding member 11 shown in FIG. 15 can be produced by integrallysecuring a separate ornamental metal strip 15 to the core metal plate 12with adhesive material, and subsequently applying another adhesivematerial to the surface of the integrated metal plate 12 and theornamental metal strip 15 to form the adhesive layer 16.

The ornamental portion 15 to be exposed outside may be composed of anappropriate material which is capable of providing a desired appearance,such as stainless steel foil, aluminum foil, metallic vacuum depositionlayer or synthetic resin film with a metallic luster, and may formeither integral or separate part of the core metal plate. Furthermore,when the adhesive layer is formed on the core metal plate substantiallyleaving the ornamental portion free from the adhesive material, thetransversal edges of the adhesive layer need not accurately coincidewith the slits. In other words, as shown in FIG. 26, the slits 17 may beformed either along the edges X of the adhesive layer 176 or along apredetermined lines Y which is somewhat spaced inwardly from theadhesive layer 16. The slits 17, on the other hand, may be formed bynon-rotating cuter blades instead of rotatable cutter blades 38 asshown.

When the molding member 11 is of a straight configuration, the separableportion 18 may be removed immediately after it has been made by formingthe slits 17. However, in case of a molding member for which thecomposite body 14 has to be subjected to machining for formingperforations, or to bending for obtaining a curved configuration, forexample, it is advantageous to separate and remove the separable portion18 shortly before the molding member is actually used, in order toprotect the ornamental portion 15 of the core metal plate 12.

Finally, in the above-mentioned embodiments of the present invention, apair of slits 17 are formed in the cover element 13 to define theseparable portion 18. Such an arrangement of the slits 17, however, isnot a prerequisite condition to carry out the invention. In particular,the molding member of the present invention may include a single layerof synthetic resin material as the cover element, a core element whichis partly exposed outside already when the composite member has beenformed, and an adhesive layer between the inner surface of the coverelement, except for the separable portion thereof, and the oppositesurface of the core element. With such an arrangement, the cover elementmay be formed with a single slit to define the separable portion with alongitudinally variable width, adjacent to one longitudinal edge of thecover member, which is arranged on outer side when the molding member isused. The other longitudinal edge of the cover element is arranged oninner side of the molding member in use, and extends substantially inparallel with the longitudinal axis of the molding member.

From the foregoing description, it will be appreciated that the presentinvention provides a molding member having a differently coloredstrip-like ornamental portion with a longitudinally variable width tosatisfy various ornamental design requirements, as well as a method ofproducing such molding members which can be carried out in a veryfacilitated and economical manner without deteriorating the appearanceof the product. The present invention is applicable to efficiently andeconomically produce various molding members for automobiles and alsofor other purposes, and various modifications can be made within thepurview of those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of producing a molding member to be usedas a body component for an automobile and the like, comprising the stepsof:(a) preparing an elongate core element with a strip-like ornamentalportion; (b) applying adhesive material onto said core element to forman adhesive layer on a portion of said core element located on at leastone side of said strip-like ornamental portion such that said adhesivelayer is not formed on said strip-like ornamental portion; (d) extrusionmolding a synthetic resin material about said core element to form acontinuous composite body with a cover element which encloses the coreelement at least partly; (e) forming at least one longitudinal slit insaid cover element to define a separable portion of the core element,said separable portion being disposed above said strip-like ornamentalportion and having a predetermined width which is variablelongitudinally of said molding member; and (f) cutting the continuouscomposite body into a predetermined length.
 2. The method as claimed inclaim 1 wherein a pair of longitudinal slits are formed in said coverelement to define said separable portion of the cover element.
 3. Themethod as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said slit is formed by acutter blade arranged on the exit side of said extrusion die.
 4. Themethod as claimed in claim 1, wherein the width of said separableportion defined by said slit is controlled in accordance with the lengthof said core element supplied to said extrusion die.
 5. The method asclaimed in claim 1, wherein said adhesive material is applied to saidcore element such that said adhesive layer on at least one side of saidstrip-like ornamental portion of said core element has a longitudinallyvariable width which corresponds to said predetermined width of saidseparable portion.
 6. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein thewidth with which said adhesive material is applied to said core elementis controlled in accordance with the length of said core elementsupplied to said extrusion die.